Republican challenger Douglas Forrester trails Democratic incumbent Robert
Torricelli 44 – 36 percent among registered voters as the New Jersey Senate race opens,
according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Sen. Torricelli is limping along with a negative 35 – 37 percent approval rating,
matching his low point from a July 5, 2001, poll by the independent Quinnipiac University.
He also has a negative favorability rating, his first such negative this year.

A bright spot for Torricelli is his 46 – 27 percent lead among women voters; men back
Forrester by a slim 46 – 41 percent margin.

"Sen. Torricelli has a comfortable lead now, but the poll shows this could become a
horse race down the road. The senator is vulnerable. For the first time this year, more
voters have an unfavorable opinion of him than favorable and voters are evenly split on
whether he has the honesty and integrity to serve as Senator," said Clay F. Richards,
assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Torricelli had a 37 – 34 percent approval rating in an April 24 Quinnipiac University
poll, compared to his 41 – 26 percent approval in a March 6 poll.

Torricelli gets a negative 21 – 26 percent favorability rating; 23 percent of voters
have a mixed opinion of their Senator and 30 percent say they don't know enough to form
an opinion.

The favorability rating for Forrester is 12 – 4 percent favorable, with 10 percent
mixed and 73 percent who say they don't know enough to form an opinion.

By a 63 – 17 percent margin, voters say Torricelli has the "experience to serve
effectively as a U.S. Senator." Forrester has the experience, voters say 29 – 17 percent,
with 54 percent undecided.

Forrester has the "honesty and integrity to serve effectively as a U.S. Senator,"
voters say 37 – 9 percent, with 54 percent undecided. Torricelli gets a 37 – 37 percent
split on honesty and integrity, with 27 percent undecided.

"Despite spending all those millions of his own money and despite winning the
Republican primary, 73 percent of the voters say they still don't know Doug Forrester. That's
always the problem for a challenger in New Jersey, getting statewide name recognition,"
Richards said.

In Quinnipiac University's new geographical picture of New Jersey, Torricelli is
ahead in Hudson and Essex counties and the curve of suburban counties from Bergen
through Mercer. The regions are:

From June 11 - 17, Quinnipiac University surveyed 736 New Jersey registered
voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percent.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts
public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and
nationally as a public service and for research.

For additional data -- www.quinnipiac.edu

2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Robert Torricelli is handling
his job as United States Senator?